Sonic Boom: The Ancients
by Leodragon678
Summary: Whenever a threat to the world arises, heroes are born to stop it… (Sonic Boom AU)
1. Records and Opinions

**Alright everybody, with the poll over it would seem you guys want this story! I enjoyed writing this first chapter and am looking forward to more! **

**Now as much as I want to, I can't take credit for this idea. The concept for this belongs to Auroblaze on Deviantart. The link to the collection can be found here!**

** www*deviantart*com/auroblaze/art/Sonic-Boom-The-Ancients-Ancestors-Theory-494845621**

**Hope you all enjoy!**

**Sonic Boom: The Ancients**

**Records and Opinions**

"So, I guess I should start from the beginning. Why are we here? To find a cure for the crystal, and potentially, even to save the world. We call ourselves The Ancients, currently, there's four of us, maybe five if you want to count Root, but she never officially joined. About ten years ago, Lyric was infected by the Primal Crystal, it seems to be degrading his tissue, causing random mutations. We had to seal him away in stone to prevent him from going crazy, he thought we were withholding the cure from him. He tried to kill us…"

Blues leaned back in his chair, adjusting the brown cloak that was standard for the Ancients. He didn't know what else he wanted to record, Rose had suggested they start keeping records of themselves, but he just didn't know what to put down. He let his vision wander across the temple walls, zoning out slightly. After a while, he refocused and continued his entry.

"We're still working on it, the cure that is. But, in my opinion, he's beyond saving at this point. Ruby still says that it needs to be done, he's the boss."

Maia, the AI operating the small silver colored, circular drone interjected. "He's not anymore in charge than you."

Blues sat upright at the sentence, the silver orb he was recording his message on floating in front of him aimlessly. He continued his entry, "Anyways… As I was saying, Lyric went crazy, he was originally with us. That was until he got a little too obsessed with the Ancient Crystal, it mutated his body. I'm really scared that the same will happen to Bolt, he spends so much time researching that thing."

"Don't forget to cover the important part." Maia commented.

"I was just getting to that," He responded. "So about the Ancients, every hundred years or so the group of the five of us are reincarnated, another version of ourselves, at least, that's what we think. There's some evidence for it of course, when we arrived here there were cloaks laid out for us. Along with logs from our old ancestors. Of course, it's just a hunch, we're not completely certain. That settle it for you Maia?"

"Thank you, that will settle it. Is there anything else you'd like to add?"

"I don't think so, maybe later."

"Understood." Maia floated away out of the room. Blues stood up and stepped out of his private quarters. He was immediately pulled over by Rose. "You got everything recorded?" The pink hedgehog asked, her brown cloak pulled up over her head.

"Yep, everything you asked for."

"Perfect," She replied, turning back toward the main courtyard, causing the crystals attached to the side of her cloak to jingle slightly.

Rose was the scribe for the Ancients, she recording everything about them in digital inscriptions on the walls. She drew with the crystals to create them, along with using the small amount of magic she had been taught by Root. Because of their digital nature, it was possible to layer them atop one another, even without destroying the ones underneath. It allowed her and her past selves to record countless amounts of history and information.

She pulled out a crystal from her belt and began a inscription, the familiar blue glow began to form what, to the untrained eye, would look like random collections of lines and squiggles.

"Blues, can you go check on Ruby and Bolt?" Rose asked, not turning away from her work. "Hopefully they're done by now."

The azure hedgehog nodded and dashed off to another segment of the temple.

**-X-**

"Lyric and I were friends, we always had competitions as to who could invent better and faster. I guess you could say we're still doing it, but the circumstances are very different…"

The yellow fox sighed, "Well, I figure I should put Ruby's warnings in here, he keeps telling me that spending too much time with the Primal Crystal could cause mutations, like tumors and cause potential insanity. Its especially easy to cause in extremities on the body, well guess what?"

He pulled his singular large tail into the camera view, "I've still only got one! So jokes on him!" He dropped his tail to the floor and the cloak he wore draped back over it. He straightened the purple ribbon on the hem of his cloak and continued.

"Don't forget what your job is." Maia told him, the fox continued.

"My jobs pretty simple, making sure everybody's gear stays in pristine condition and performing any tests Ruby tells me to do in my workshop. It's not too hard of a task, so I get plenty of time for my own activities, especially working on the Tornado, me and Root have a test with the Crystal that should help us better learn how to help Lyric, the right's almost done, so it shouldn't be too long now. He was a great friend, I just want him back…"

Bolt sighed, closing the journal entry. He let his thoughts wander for a moment before rising back to his feet. Just as he did, Blues dashed into the room at full speed, nearly sweeping the fox off his feet.

"What did I tell you about doing that?" Bolt chastised, "Slow down before coming in!"

"Right, sorry, my bad." Blues chuckled, "Rose wanted me to check if your entry is done."

"Yep, at least, I think I've got enough info, you never know with her though."

Blues nodded before turning to the large mass of metal in the room. "This thing ready?"

"Just about! A few last touches, the Crystal is already hooked up."

After another glance, Blues noticed the bright Cyan colors gemstone, it was still as large as he remembered it being, and he had no idea how Bolt had even managed to move it, it was larger than him!

"Sometimes, you scare me with these kind of things bud."

"I've told you, it's perfectly safe, there's measures to stop the experiment if anything goes wrong, and you know Root, she can handle herself."

"I guess you have a point there… Plus, she'll make sure you don't do anything too crazy!" Blues playfully punched the fox on the shoulder. Resulting in a chuckle from him. However, Blues was still deeply concerned, even with all the safety precautions in place. But he still trusted his surrogate brother that it would all be alright.

**-X-**

Rose's arrival was heralded by a soft jingle as the crystals on her belt bumped into one another, she found her own personal quarters and flopped down on her bed. She was relieved by not having to keep checking on Bolt and Ruby, it allowed her a short break from the constant pressure that her job applied to her. Not that she hated it or anything, in fact, she rather enjoyed cataloging the group's adventures group's daily life.

She heard the computerized voice of Maia from a small device on her desk. "You know, you still haven't done an entry for yourself. I know there's the inscriptions, but I still figure that it would be a good idea."

She couldn't argue with that, she walked over to her desk and slid a few papers she had been meaning to copy down aside, most of them were old stories, from before her writing crystals had been created, but a few of them were more recent things, like blueprints from Bolt's plentiful inventions.

"So, I guess let's start from the top," she began, removing the cloak from atop her head and revealing a headband with several feathers in it. "My name's Rose, and I'm the scribe from our little group! I'm responsible for getting each of our lives and stories recorded, along with any major events in the world that we witness. It's a fun job, there's so much history to discover!"

She adjusted her headband and straightened her cloak before continuing. "Well, I guess there's one thing I should probably bring up, I'm a Chaos Adept, or that's what Root says anyways, the truth is, the best I can conjure is a basic healing spell."

As if on command, her right palm began to glow a soft yellow. "Root's a expert on this sort of stuff, she's a full on sorceress! As for me, I'm just I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to be Chaos Adept, I can barely cast a proper heal spell. I guess I always have my hammer, which helps a lot. As for the others, Blues is a really nice guy, he's always nice to have around, I'd be lying to say we don't have a… Relationship... Bolt's always there for me, and I don't know what any of us would do without Ruby. Probably all just argue with one another until we broke up I guess, some of us really don't get along, especially Bolt and Ruby. I swear, they're going to really hurt each other one day, I mean Ruby's going to hurt Bolt, there's no way he'd even stand a chance, no offence."

Rose sighed and ended her entry there, she might continue that later but now, she was going to relax.

**-X-**

Ruby crossed his arms as much as he didn't want to do this, he had to help out Rose. So he reluctantly began. "Name's Ruby, I'm the one in charge here. Every year or so Rose has us do these entries and catalog ourselves so I guess I should give some back story. There were five of us originally, Blues, Rose, Bolt, Lyric, and me. Lyric, during a experiment with the Primal Crystal, lost his mind and turned on us. We recruited Root to help us out and she's been a part of the family ever since. We sealed Lyric away, turned him onto a statue to be exact, but it's not perfect, he'll be free again one day, and we need to be ready…

He thought for a moment, but then continued. "That's why I've told Bolt to not mess with that Crystal, we don't need another crazy scientist on our hands, Lyric and Bolt were good friends back before the former went insane. As for Rose and Blues, they say they're not together but we all know they're just denying it, they were made for one another! I'm just hoping it doesn't get in the way of our work. Roots always been a curious case, she works with us, but doesn't want to join, she doesn't really like constraints too much."

"I think the others say I'm hard to work with, but I would just hate to see any of them get hurt. Bolt however, always gets on my nerves! He just thinks he's above everything! That he's immune to everything, he's more stubborn than Root sometimes!"

He thought about the badger for a moment, she was always rather cooperative, maybe it was time he extend the invitation again. He finished his entry and stood back up to report to Rose that he was done, she thanked him for his time and Ruby returned to his quarters, practicing through what he could say to Root to finally get her to officially join their little family.

**Alright everyone, that's all for the introduction! Let me know your thoughts in a review and follow to be updated when I post! Until next time!**


	2. Fire and Flames

**Hello everyone, it's time for another chapter of this story, but first I've got a review or two to get through!**

**(FFN Reviews)**

**Mitha Sentro: This is actually a concept from deviantart! I could have sworn I linked the original in the first chapter, needless to say my mistake has been fixed!**

**(AO3 Comments)**

**Galaxaria: Thank you! It's rare I get comments on AO3 so I'm glad you're liking it! As for seeing more, I've got some fun events planned for later so you'll have to wait and see!**

**Alright, let's get going!**

**Sonic Boom: The Ancients**

**Fire and Flames**

Bolt rocked back and forth on his feet, she should be arriving any minute now. To say he was nervous was an understatement, he was a wreck. As much as he didn't look like it, he hadn't slept in days as he preformed the final finishing touches on the device. After this was all over, he was going to take a nice long nap.

He double checked his schematics once again, looking for anything he could have missed, he knew messing with the Primal Crystal could have catastrophic effects on not only himself, but Root as well, and that was the best case scenario if it all went wrong…

"Bolt," the computerized voice of Maia spoke. "Root has just arrived."

"Send her my way," he responded, not looking up from his work. He double checked his appearance, making sure the bags under his eyes weren't too visible.

The badger entered the workshop and immediately pulled Bolt into a tight hug.

"How've you been? I haven't seen you in forever!"

"It's only been a week or two!"

"I know, I just miss seeing you!"

Bolt blushed, Root was a motherly figure for him so her being obsessive over every little detail was rather comforting for a change.

"So," She began, releasing the fox. "This is what you've been working on?"

The room was almost completely taken over by the device, a large black colored structure with cyan highlights, the color the exact same as the massive crystal nestled in the center of it. Several energy prongs designed to harvest energy from the gemstone extended upward almost to the ceiling.

"Yeah, isn't it magnificent! Hopefully it all works…"

"I'm sure it'll be alright, though, you're going to have to tell me what it does again, you slurred your words last time and I could hardly make out a thing."

"Alright, it's supposed to pull the energy out of the Primal Crystal and allow the user to see a bit into the future! Hopefully it'll allow us to see if there's a way to cure Lyric."

"Sweet, well, I'm ready whenever you are!"

"That's the spirit!" Bolt responded, "If you want to just step up to the thing and I'll get this started!"

Root nodded and ascended until she was stood atop the Primal Crystal, Bolt moved to a operating terminal and started a short warm up.

"Root, let me know if something goes wrong alright?" He yelled above the increasingly loud machinery and crackle of energy.

She nodded atop her pedestal and Bolt continued his instructions. "There should be reservoirs of Chaos Energy atop each of the conduits, if you want to try and connect to those, that's going to be the easiest way to get a connection."

Tendrils of bright cyan energy extended from Root's palms and connected to each of the conduits, the device began to hum quietly and the crystal beneath Root's feet began to glow the same color as the energy streams.

Bolt pulled his goggles over his eyes and reached for the lever to allow the Primal Crystal to fully discharge. "Starting in three, two, one!"

He pulled the switch and the machine flared to life, the energy streams had such a bright glow that his goggles automatic tint darkened to shield his eyes. Bolt was smiling like a child, it had worked…

For all of three seconds…

Bolt's terminal alerted him to a problem, there was too much energy flowing out of the Crystal, far too much, the machine was unable to handle it. The excess was beginning to flow into the reservoirs, overloading their capacity and releasing the extra, right into Root.

"Root, let go!" He yelled, but, because of the sheer overwhelming amounts of energy, she couldn't hear him. He abandoned his station and ran toward the platform, trying to reach her and pull her out, just was he was approaching, the machine detonated in a massive explosion of heat and light, despite Bolt's tinted goggles, he felt a sudden blast of heat and everything went white.

He woke a few seconds later, and pulled his now black goggles off, he was dazed and sore but otherwise felt unharmed. Everything was covered in a bright orange light and instantly he felt the heat from nearby flames licking at him. He stood up and was instantly met with a shockwave of pain up his left leg and across his chest, looking down, his leg had a massive gash across it and the fur on it had already turned a deep crimson. His chest has a large patch of blackened fur on it, he had been burnt pretty bad when the explosion had gone off, but there was still only one thought on his mind.

Root had been at point blank when the machine exploded, she had to be here somewhere. He took a step forward and instantly regretted it as it tore more of the skin on his leg. He had to support himself on a nearby piece of wreckage to even stand because of the pain.

"Root! Can you hear me!?" He yelled, immediately coughing after the fact as smoke filled his lungs. He couldn't see straight but persisted none the less. He had to find her, no matter what...

**-X-**

They all felt the explosion and immediately exchanged concerned glances and rushed to Bolt's workshop, opening the doorway they were instantly met with a wave of heat and large spires of flame. Blues rushed in at full speed and began a search of the room, eventually he found Bolt, whom was clearly in bad shape, he was covered in small burns and his chest was completely burnt, a thin trail of blood tailed behind him from his leg as he limped along.

"Bolt!" He yelled, rushing over to the fox.

"We need to find her," he began, his voice weak and coarse. The fox began a coughing fit immediately afterward.

"You need to get out of here! You're hurt!"

"I'm… Alright…" Bolt replied, an exhausted tone to his voice.

As if to punctuate his sentence, Bolt then passed out, his injuries finally getting the best of him. Blues instantly pulled the fox into his arms and rushed back to the entrance, being careful to avoid the sharp fragments of metal and flames.

He practically threw Bolt into Rose's arms. "Get him out of here, me and Ruby will find Root!"

She nodded somewhat hesitantly and left the room, on her way to the infirmary, she channeled the nearby Chaos Energy and cast a basic healing spell on Bolt, whom relaxed as it's effects set in, making him numb to the pain. It did also slow the bleeding on his leg and repaired part of his chest.

That was all she could do however, simply remove the pain. It wasn't going to be enough to heal him there, luckily, Maia knew how to perform most advanced medical procedures and she had no doubt it knew how to properly take care of Bolt. How she wished Root was here… She had been in with Bolt when whatever they had been up to detonated, if this was how badly Bolt had been injured, she didn't want to even think about her.

She cast another basic heal spell as she entered the infirmary, further repairing his injuries, it wasn't much, she was just using what she could pull on with her limited experience. She set him down on a infirmary table and let Maia start her scan. Just afterward she left to help the others locate Root, as she ran however, she found Ruby had already found her and was carrying her to the infirmary. Rose would have helped, but as she had already expended all the energy in the air directly around her, she was unable to do much.

Strangely though, she actually looked less injured than Bolt had been. In fact, there wasn't a scratch on her body, she simply appeared unconscious. Confused they simply set her in the infirmary and waited for Maia's results to come in.

**-X-**

Bolt's eyes slowly adjusted to the light as he woke, his first impression was that he was dead, but as more and more came into focus, he found that he had survived.

As he looked around, his internal thoughts were interrupted by Rose appearing from a nearby doorway and immediately pulling the fox into a hug.

"You're awake!" She exclaimed, "What were you thinking?"

The fox tried to sit up, only to be gently stopped by Rose, "You're not in any shape to be up and about, just relax."

He did as he was told, until all the thoughts since the explosion rushed back to him and instantly he was upright.

"Where's Root!? Is she alright!? Is she hurt!?"

"Calm down Bolt, she's alright, actually, there's not a scratch on her."

"Huh?"

"Physically, she's completely fine."

"Physically?"

Rose paused, she didn't want him to worry about Root too much in his current state, but it didn't seem there was a way to help it. "However… We've figured out that the only reason she wasn't hurt is because the Primal Crystal protected her. But, while it did stop her from getting hurt, it didn't protect her mind. She's, in a coma, we gave no idea if she'll wake up, and if she does, she's not going to be the same…"

Bolt didn't respond for a moment, he flopped down onto his bed. "It's all my fault…" He quietly remarked.

"Bolt… I'm sure you did everything you could, I'm certain you knew the risks, this kind of thing just happens…"

"What did you say Rose?" Another voice interjected. The two looked over and found Ruby standing nearby, the echidna continued. "That Bolt did everything he could?"

"Ruby, not now…" Rose responded.

The echidna turned his attention to the fox, "Bolt, when you joined this team as our engineer, I gave you one rule, what was it?"

The fox' eyes dropped down, trying to avoid his leader's gaze. "Not to mess with the crystal…" He quietly responded.

Rose interrupted, "Ruby, he's been through enough! Do you really think now is the best time to bring this up?"

"Somebody needs to take responsibility!" He turned back to the fox, "What did you decide to do, knowing that I had told you exactly otherwise?"

Bolt didn't respond, shrinking down into his bed, tears started to well up in the corners of his eyes.

"Answer me Bolt! What did you do? Why is Root unconscious right now!?"

Again no response as his sniffles got more frequent.

"So, yes, this IS all your fault! Because you don't think the rules we've set in place apply to you, and now, you've hurt somebody because of it!"

"That's enough!" Rose exclaimed, causing Ruby to stop in his tracks. She pulled him outside, trying to ignore the now sobbing fox. "What was that for!?"

"He needs to learn, I knew he was going to ignore my rules eventually! He needs to face the consequences! I know it was a bit harsh, but I cant give him anymore leeway than I already have!"

Rose was about to interrupt, but he did have a good point, she sighed. "Couldn't you have done it in a way that didn't involve what's basically attacking him?"

"We've tried that before Rose, you know I have, but eventually, I need to put my foot down when it comes to hurting others. Did I enjoy yelling at him, no. But I have to, otherwise, we'll just end up back here again."

Rose nodded, albeit somewhat reluctantly. "Just, try to be easier on him next time, alright? We're not enemies."

"I know… Tell me if Root wakes up."

Rose turned back to the infirmary, Bolt had calmed down, but was still much more quiet than usual. Rather then saying anything, she prepared some food for the fox and tried to feed it to him, he refused.

"Bolt, you need to eat. I know you're upset, but, he does have a point. We've told you not to mess with the Primal Crystal, I'm sure Root will be ok, we'll figure something out."

The fox smiled, "Thanks Rose…" He responded, pulling her into a hug.

"You're welcome, now, you need to eat."

**Alright guys, that's it for this chapter, let me know your thoughts! Until next time!**


	3. Robotic Fallout

**Hello! Let's get going!**

**Alaxaria: Thanks for your thoughts! We're going to see more of Ruby soon, he is their leader after all! Clearly this isn't his first experience with things going wrong. :)**

**That's it for now! Let's get started!**

**Sonic Boom: The Ancients**

_**Robotic Fallout**_

Within a few days, almost all evidence that the disaster had happened were absent, Bolt was much better after some rest and proper medical attention. His leg was still injured, but with a cast around the injury, he could at least walk comfortably.

Root however, had not shown any signs of getting better. She was still completely unconscious. Bolt hadn't left her room for any reason. As much as Rose and Blues told him not to worry himself about it, he couldn't help but feel guilty.

Rose quietly stepped into the infirmary where Root was being kept, it was late and she figured checking to see how they were both doing was a good idea. Root was still in her bed, Bolt had fallen asleep at a table he had brought in. Dozens of papers were scattered across the surface of it. The fox had been trying to figure out what exactly had happened after the device had detonated. It seemed he had worked himself to sleep, the brown cloak he always wore was draped over himself, almost acting as a blanket.

The hedgehog quietly left the room and returned to her quarters. She slept soundly until the next morning. When she woke she immediately went to Root's room in the infirmary and cast a healing spell on her, there wasn't any proof it was helping, but there was no reason not too. Bolt was awake and still working furiously on his own calculations. As Rose went to leave however, the fox spoke.

"I figured it out."

"You did?"

"Yeah, it's the Primal Crystal. The machine, still worked, Root did see the future at least for a moment. I hope she still remembers…"

"She'll be ok Bolt, you need to stop obsessing over this."

"What if she never wakes up? What if she goes insane like Lyric!? It'll all be my fault! I don't want to lose another friend!"

Bolt was on the verge of tears at this point, Rose gave him a hug until he calmed down slightly.

"It's alright," She said. "Everything will be fine, you just need to believe that too."

"I- I'll try…"

Rose gave him a firm pat on the back. Just as she did, Ruby stepped into the room. "We've got a problem."

The other two's noted his statement and followed behind him. Neither wanted to leave Root on her own, but they figured they could at least hear what Ruby had to say.

They arrived in a small living quarters that branched off into their own rooms, Blues had already arrived. Ruby cleared his voice and spoke.

"What's left of Lyric's forces are putting up a fight, one of the nearby towns reports that there's still at least one company of remnants left, it seems to be entirely machines like usual."

Blues stepped forward, "Do we know where they are?"

"We have an idea," the echidna replied. "But nothing for certain."

"I could try to locate them," Bolt responded. "At least we aren't going in blind."

"I'm sure you could, but we need to move quickly, I don't think there's time to get every scrap of information."

"What's with the rush?" Rose asked.

"They've already attacked one of the villages nearby, and I think they could be going for another."

"So we need to stop them before they get there." Blues commented.

"Are you sure that they're Lyrics?" Rose responded.

"They're the same kind we faced before we locked him away, we should have plenty of experience with all of them." The echidna responded.

They all nodded in response, it was true, they had faced against Lyric's machines several times over before, they knew their designs inside and out. It shouldn't be too difficult. With some more discussion from the group, they all agreed that they would need to take them out as soon as possible. Gathering some basic equipment, they headed out in search of Lyric's forces.

The group had been in the plane for about an hour now. Bolt was responsible for directing them where they needed to head as they crossed over the treetops in search of their targets. While the dark blue plane wasn't the most stealthy method of searching, it was the most efficient for covering ground quickly. Blues was rather bored, but continued his search atop one of the wings. Rose sat on the other doing the same. Ruby provided a second set of eyes on both sides in the second seat behind Bolt, the fox couldn't help much as he was focused on not covering the same ground twice and keeping the aircraft upright.

"Guys!" Blues yelled over the sound of the wind rushing past the group, "I think I've got something!"

Ruby looked over and confirmed Blues' suspicions, a squadron of Lyric's old robots were currently traversing through the forest. The echidna nodded to the hedgehog. "Bolt, how close can you put us?"

The fox looked around for any suitable landing site. He pointed a bit off into the distance toward what appeared to be a slight clearing, "Probably over there, it's as close as it's going to get."

Ruby once again nodded and a few minutes later, Bolt had set the plane down in the small clearing on the edge of a lake. They each exited the aircraft, Ruby immediately took charge of the situation. "We should be heading directly that way." He said, pointing into a nearby set of trees. The others followed closely behind as Ruby charged into the foliage. Blues, despite having super speed, decided to stay close to the rest of the group. It wouldn't help to get cornered on his own and be unable to get help.

After a while, they could hear other sets of footsteps on the grass. Ruby held up a hand and everyone halted to better hear the sound. He then pointed toward it's direction and the others followed. As soon as they had spotted the mechanical soldiers, Blues drew a small dagger from his waist. He didn't necessarily need it, but it always helped. Rose produced a hammer approximately the same size as herself via magic, it was a simple spell she had been taught by Root to allow her to summon her weapon from anywhere. Ruby had no weapon, simply stretching himself out. Bolt flicked his wrist and a bright yellow electrical whip extended from his wrist, it was a small device he had created that gave himself a suitable weapon at all times.

Everyone charged forward, before the robots had even registered they were under attack, Blues had already stabbed two of them, slicing through wires and electronics thanks to a small amount of plasma around the edges of his dagger. He continued on his spree while Rose pounded one robot on the side, sending it flying into another. Both of them crumbled to the ground in a pile of broken machinery. Ruby struck one directly in the chest, not only completely annihilating anything that had been in his way, but then slammed the broken robot on the ground for good measure. Bolt, rather then attacking from ground level like the others had, decided to take a much different approach, he tethered his whip to a thick tree branch and swung off of it, delivering a kick to one of his opponents.

The robot had now located their attackers and were beginning to open fire on the heroes with plasma bolts. Blues didn't seem to care, as he knew it be very difficult for the robots to track him, much less land a hit. The others knew how to properly avoid the onslaught of lasers as they let muscle memory take over for the most part. Bolt grabbed one of the nearby robots with his whip and flung it into the rest of the attackers, hitting several as it slid to a stop. Rose tried to damage several robots by striking them with her hammer, however, a blast grazed her arm and she dropped behind cover and cast a healing spell on the injury, it quickly repaired itself and instantly, it was like it had never happened in the first place.

Blues slashed another two attackers before diving behind the rock formation the others were using. "I've got an idea! Ruby, see it you can't get one of these trees to fall on them!"

"What about you?" The echidna's asked.

"I'll be alright, just get to it!"

The echidna grabbed Bolt and dragged the fox with him to another area off to the side. "Bolt, I need you to direct this so it hits as many of them as possible." The fox nodded and attached his whip to it and pulled back until the line was tight. Rose had come over and was ready to help as well. Ruby drew back and hit the tree with all the force he could muster, it cracked across its base and began to collapse. Bolt dug his heels into the dirt and tried to pull it to the left, Rose helped by striking the trunk on it's side, the actions of the two of them redirected it enough that crushed most of the mechanical attackers. Blues dodged out of the way of the falling log and slashed another few robots while he was at it.

The tree struck the ground with tremendous force, completely crushing anything beneath it. Lyric's forces, now with incredibly thinned numbers, were rushed down and taken out one by one until none remained.

"I think that's it, we shouldn't be hearing from them for a while." Ruby commented. The other three nodded in agreement.

"What do you even think they were doing out here?" Rose asked.

"They're probably still obeying their last command they were given," Bolt responded. "What exactly that was, I'm not sure."

"Well, at least they won't be bothering us anymore." Blues added, "We want to head back?"

They all agreed and returned to the temple they all called home. Bolt returned to the infirmary, and found Root was awake, but hadn't left her bed. She screamed as the fox opened the door.

"I'll give you what ever you want! Just don't haunt me!" The badger yelled.

Bolt took a step back in surprise, as he did, Rose forced her way into the room. The hedgehog ran over to Root and pulled her into a hug. "Thank goodness you're awake! We were starting to get concerned!"

"What happened?" The badger asked, "I remember an explosion, and then… Lots of other things, lots of it made no sense."

The two Ancients in the room exchanged glances, she really had seen the future. This was huge.

"Do you remember anything you saw?" Bolt asked.

"Not really, I had something right when you walked in, but now I can't remember it…"

"So you can't control it?"

"No…" Root sighed, "I'm sorry Bolt, I messed up your experiment."

"Its actually my fault, I shouldn't have done it in the first place."

Rose chimed in, "Well, it's just nice to see you're awake Root! If you see anything else, then let us know."

The badger nodded and slowly drifted back off to sleep, she was still rather exhausted. The other two allowed her to get some rest as they exited the room.

"Maybe," Bolt began. "If we can jog her memory about Lyric, it'll help something come up!"

"Its worth a shot, just remember what you're playing with here Bolt. Don't hurt yourself again."

The fox nodded and they went their separate ways, they both had some mysteries to uncover.

**Alright guys, that's all for today! Let me know your thoughts! Until next time!**


	4. Looking to the Future

**Hello! I've got another chapter so let's get going!**

**TheGameNguyener: Thanks for the two reviews! I think I'm going to start responding to multiple reviews separately! I've tried to make it noticeable as to who is who. Firstly, their names tend to be synonyms for their respective colors, and secondly, I've tried to get them to be similar to their "normal" selves. Tails and his incarnations tend to just have the personality to make it easy to take punishment. I still love the character, but he's generally the most emotionally vulnerable of the group.**

**Thanks for the extra help in locating the typo in chapter 3! It's been fixed to better flow together! I've tried to make action scenes and dialogue to better flow naturally in all my stories! So it's good to know you liked it!**

**That's it for now!**

**Sonic Boom: The Ancients**

**Looking to the Future**

Ruby took his time questioning Root about exactly what she knew and had seen. The badger was just as confused as to his questions, she seemingly had no control over her own powers and it was showing. Thankfully enough, however, she did still seem to remember how to tap into Chaos Energy, meaning their spell caster wasn't completely gone.

"Anything?" Rose asked as he stepped out of the small room the two had been in.

"She doesn't have a clue. If I didn't know better, I'd say Bolt wiped her mind."

"What does she remember?"

"Not much, she still knows the basics, like who the four of us are. Along with her own identity. There's also the ability to use Chaos Energy."

"Anything about Lyric?"

"Vague memories, not much more…"

Rose sighed. "Well, at least she's alive."

"That's a relief."

Ruby went to leave, only to be stopped by Rose. "Ruby, there's something I've been wondering…"

"What?"

"What do you think you'll do once we're done with Lyric? I mean, we've spent so much time working on fighting Lyric, I'm not even sure what I would do…"

Ruby thought about this for a second, it was something he had asked himself before, but had never really found a good answer for.

"Well," He began. "I haven't really found something, I figure I'll probably head off and try to find out more about where the Primal Crystal came from. Because right now, there's nothing stopping us from having to deal with another Lyric…"

The stone itself had always been a mystery to them all. They knew that it contained presumably infinite amounts of Chaos Energy, similarly to the seven Chaos Emeralds that were in their possession. They had been told to guard it with their lives, if it fell into Lyric's or any of his servants hands, it would be the end of the world.

"How about you?" Ruby asked, "You have any thoughts?"

"I've given it some, Blues I know had ideas of trying to just live a normal life."

"Him? I always assumed that he'd be the one to keep doing the whole adventuring thing."

"It is a bit odd," Rose responded. "But I think it's something we could both enjoy…"

"Together? You still trying to get him to like you?"

"He does like me, it's, complicated…"

"You could say that again." Ruby teased.

"At least it's not as bad as Bolt, I don't think he's ever had a relationship with somebody."

"Maybe he has, he doesn't like sharing where he came from with me at least…" Ruby commented, sighing afterward.

"Well, just keep an eye on Root for me, alright?" Rose asked. Ruby nodded as she stepped out she figured that she might as well go and ask Blues and Bolt about their plans Post-Lyric. She eventually found the two of them in Bolt's workshop, the hedgehog and fox were busy working on another invention. By both of them working, Rose assumed Bolt was doing most of the building, while Blues 'supervised' to ensure he didn't hurt himself again.

"Hey guys!" She exclaimed as she walked in. "What you up to?"

"Not much, Bolt's working on something again." Blues replied. The fox in question removed his goggles and waved. "Hey Rose, what you doing?"

"I'm just here to ask you two a question real quick."

"Alright," Blues responded. "What is it?"

"Well," Rose continued. "I'm just wondering what you guys both think you're going to do after we're done with Lyric?"

Blues quickly answered before Bolt could say a thing. "Come on Rose, you already know this! I'm just going to be myself, live a… Normal life, you know."

"Alright, well, I suppose you've already got all that figured out. How about you Bolt?"

"Nothing planned, and I don't intend to have one any time soon."

"Why not?"

"I just need to focus, I'm not going to let myself get, distracted." He responded, letting out a short sigh afterward.

Rose and Blues exchanged glances at the comment, the azure hedgehog stepped over and gave her an explanation.

"He's been irritable today." Blues explained, "It's probably because I asked him about if he's ever had a love interest, it seemed to set him off."

"Well, what'd he say?"

"That's the thing, nothing."

Rose was a bit concerned with the lack of response. But decided to press it later, figuring that she already had the answer to her main question. As she walked back to her quarters. However, she was stopped by Ruby.

"Well, she's awake."

"How is she?"

"Ask her yourself, she wanted to see you."

Rose eagerly followed behind the echidna as they traveled over to the infirmary, she removed her hood and adjusted the hem, she wanted to make a good impression after she had just woken up, hopefully for good this time.

The badger was wide awake and greeted her the moment the hedgehog walked through the door. Rose threw her arms around her mentor. "You doing ok?"

"I'm fine, how about you?"

"I'm just happy to hear you're alright!" Rose responded, "For a bit there we thought we had-"

"I'm just fine, no need to get your cloak all tangled up about it!"

The two of them talked deep into the night, trying to enjoy each others company as best they could.

**-X-**

Bolt sighed to himself. It was late, the others had almost certainly gone to bed already and he should probably join them. Something stopped him, some seemingly insignificant question presented by Blues to him.

_"Have I, been in a relationship?"_

While normally this could be an easy question, for the fox, it wasn't quite so black and white. His confusion was compounded by his fear at sharing what had happened with his fellow Ancients.

_"It's alright Bolt, just tell them the truth!"_

_"You can't do that, they'll never know how much that meant to you!"_

_"What if they do?"_

_"What if they don't?"_

A constant barrage of questions hammered his thoughts until eventually they were interrupted by a voice.

"Bolt?"

The fox in question looked up from his work for the first time in a few hours and acknowledged the voice's owner. Rose had come to see him.

"It's late, you need sleep." She continued.

"Sorry, I just, have a lot going on…"

"Also, earlier today, I'm sorry for trying to pry into your life, it's none of my business…"

"No, you…" The fox hesitated. He was afraid of what she, of all people would think. Still, he acknowledged, it would have to be known sooner or later.

"You deserve a answer…" Bolt continued. "I was in a relationship, it was even with somebody you know…"

Rose looked intrigued and sat down next to the fox. "Who is it?"

He took a deep breath before answering. "You actually have thought this whole time, we were just friends. For a long time, we were… Lyric was just a friend…"

Rose's eyes widened as she fully comprehended what exactly the statement meant. "Bolt.. Are you-"

"I'm not even sure anymore, I don't know when it happened, but we just locked eyes at one point while we were working and… I don't know what came over me…" The fox paused, "It felt wrong and right at the same time, I cant describe it…"

"Have you felt that way before?"

"No, Lyric was special… We'd done so much together that when it happened, it just felt natural. He meant a lot to me, it physically hurt me to have to fight him…"

Rose recalled Bolt had entered into a deep depression once they had fully contained Lyric. The true cause had just never occurred in her mind. "What did you like about him?"

"He was always so caring, he made me this ribbon you know…" The fox gestured to the purple accessory on the hem of his cloak. "Its something I've always had to remember him by."

"Did you two ever, kiss?"

The fox hesitated, but then slowly nodded.

"What was it like?" Rose responded, "If you don't mind me asking…"

"Time slowed down, it felt amazing. From then on, I couldn't even been in the same room as him without getting butterflies in my stomach. I'd never felt anything like it before…"

Rose didn't respond to his statement for a bit. She simply ran through her thoughts before continuing. "Bolt, this- this is something I hadn't ever thought about… But, if that's how you feel, then I'm not going to hate you for it."

"Just, don't tell the others, ok? I don't want them to know yet…"

"Your secret's safe with me."

"Thanks Rose."

The hedgehog gave Bolt a pat on the back and the two returned to their own quarters for the night.

**-X-**

Ruby yawned and stretched out his back as he woke up. He retrieved his cloak and pulled it around his torso, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stepped out of his room.

None of the others were awake yet, which was good, it meant that he could have some time to himself. While he didn't mind his position as leader of the Ancients, it was taxing sometimes. He put himself in charge of the well being of not only himself, but the other members of the…

_"Family?"_ He thought, _"That, actually sounds about right."_

He continued on his own way, he was going to check once again on Lyric's statue, which they kept in just outside of the temple to keep watch. The snake was still completely frozen in stone, just as he had hoped. Root's injuries had gone nothing to lessen the hold on Lyric. He knew it wouldn't hold forever, but the seal still seemed to be going strong. Hopefully once he finally broke free, they would have a cure for his illness and corruption. If they had to, they could attempt to reseal him again for another decade or so.

The fight to get him trapped the first time was very difficult, several of them had almost lost their lives. It was only through cooperation between all five of them that they could take him down. It would be difficult, if not impossible to take him on a second time. That's why he was out here.

If Lyric broke free where he was at currently, he would be able to escape without much difficulty, so the possibility of moving him to somewhere to more secure was pressing on the echinda's mind. Where exactly though was the question, he decided to ask the other Ancients later. For now he decided he might as well stay up for the day and head out for a short walk.

**Alright everybody, that's everything! I wanted something more fluffy this time around! Let me know what you thought in a review, and follow if you want to be updated whenever I post! Until next time!**


	5. The Ultimate Lifeform

**Hello! Sorry about the long wait everybody, but I needed to cut down on my workload, it was completely overwhelming, but I'm back to updating this story! Let's get back at it!**

**MilesADChipmunk: Thanks! All their personalities and designs are loosely based on themselves from Sonic Boom. But many have distinct personality quirks or differences that separate themselves from their canon selves!**

**Obliviblur: There's reasons for everything! All of which will be explained over the course of the story! I'm happy you like this story!**

**Yori Micah: I'm sorry you didn't like this story, I know it's not everybody's favorite, but I write what I want to! I completely understand however!**

**Let's get started!**

**Sonic Boom: The Ancients**

_**The Ultimate Lifeform**_

Lyric's relocation went smoothly, it did require effort from all five of them, but they managed none the less. Lyric's frozen stone self was now located at the inner sanctum of the temple, directly where they could all keep watch on it, and where it could be a constant reminder of what would happen if they failed.

After moving it however, things quieted down. Root and Bolts injuries had fully healed and all of Lyric's remaining forces had been defeated. It would seem that the Ancients didn't have much distraction outside of locating the cure for Lyric's insanity for several days.

That was, until Ruby had a potential breakthrough as he was studying the Primal Crystal.

"It's like a living being!" He thought. Plenty of time to think had given him the idea to approach the problem not treating the Crystal as just a power infused rock, but rather, as a living being.

He quickly rushed to Rose as told her about his idea.

"It's something we haven't experimented with," He began. "Potentially, it's a way to finally figure out exactly how it works!"

"I can't deny that, and from what I've managed to pick about the Crystal myself it's definitely a possibility. It has some sentience at least."

"Exactly, this could be what we've been missing!" Ruby responded.

Rose seemed to think it over again for a second, but then nodded. "Alright, so what do you suggest we do about it? I mean I know it's a new potential discovery, but I don't exactly know what it could be used for."

"We won't know until we've done it! Maybe something will come up!"

The two of them presented their idea to Blues, who had a similar reaction to Rose on the matter.

"Well, it certainly isn't impossible!" The cobalt hedgehog responded. "I figure it's worth a shot!"

Bolt was convinced of their tests afterward, he decided he would get to work almost immediately in investigating the Crystal's unique properties with Rose's help.

"Alright, first things first. I'm going to run a thorough scan of it." Bolt told Rose. "It shouldn't take long."

After a few moments of silence the results appeared and Rose began to look over the data, and immediately something caught her eye.

"Bolt, come look at this!"

The fox rushed over and looked at the screen, "What about it?" He asked.

The hedgehog pointed to a set of data values. "Look at it, it's information about a DNA strand!"

The information puzzled Bolt, he quickly scanned it over and sure enough it did appear to be a DNA string of some sort. Rose continued with her commentary.

"It doesn't look long enough though, it's only a few bits and pieces…"

"Maybe some of it's missing?" Bolt suggested, they looked over it for a bit, until, Rose had an idea.

"Bolt, I've got something you're going to think is, a bit crazy…"

He smiled, "You know I like crazy, what?"

She pulled one of her quills out and handed it to Bolt, "Scan this, try to get the DNA strand from it."

He looked at her quizzically but followed along with it, "So, what's this going to do?"

"Well, I've read from the inscriptions around the temple that the four of us are connected to the Crystal somehow, maybe it could help!"

The scan finished and the DNA structure for Rose was pulled up, as they looked over the data, Bolt noticed something. "Look at this…"

He simulated a connection between Rose's DNA and the strand they had gotten from the crystal, they matched and Rose's completed a missing potion of the Crystal's.

They looked up at each other, massive grins across their faces. Bolt plucked out one of his own fur strands and did the same Rose had, sure enough, his connected to another missing portion, finishing the sequence.

"I'll get Ruby and Blues!" Rose exclaimed, racing out of the workshop, she returned a few moments later with the other two team members in tow.

"What is it you two?" Ruby asked.

"We need one of your spines," Rose responded. "Same goes for you Blues."

The two looked confused for a moment, before plucking out one each and handing them to Rose. Whom quickly set them up to be scanned.

Bolt was busy fixing small inconsistencies in the strand, but they connected together incredibly well in the simulation, he was already thinking through potential designs for an incubation chamber to test his theories.

As they worked, Root stepped in, as she did however, her eyes went wide as she scanned the room. "Does nobody else see the ghost!?"

The four if them looked at her, confused as to what she meant. "What did you say Root?" Bolt asked.

The badger instantly jumped backward, her eyes taking on a slight cyan hue. "It can talk! Does nobody else notice this!?"

The four of them exchanged concerned glances, Root had been acting strange since the incident with the Crystal, seemingly avoiding Bolt for whatever reason. Ruby calmly escorted her out of the room, as he did, Rose noticed immense amounts of energy in the air, she grew curious, but figured there was more pressing matters to attend to with her and Bolt's new discovery.

"Alright," Bolt began. "I think I've stabilized it…"

Rose looked at it and confirmed, "It looks to be finished, what's it for though?"

"I've got an idea, we could try and build something to, maybe let it synthesize?"

Rose looked over at him for a moment, "Well, it's not going to build itself! Let's get started!"

Bolt grinned and they started to work, drawing out potential plans for the device. They were both incredibly curious as to what the result would be…

**-X-**

The two worked tirelessly for four days, receiving occasional help from Ruby and Blues. Eventually however, they had finished, now, before them, stood an incubation chamber of their own design. The two smiled and Rose uploaded the sequence of DNA they had acquired from the Crystal. Now, all that was left to do was wait…

And they didn't have to wait long as very quickly cells were born from the genome and began multiplying. It would be at least a few days before anything major happened, but having some development was good.

As the two left the workshop, they passed by the frozen stone form of Lyric, Bolt stopped and sighed, glancing down at his feet. Rose gently gave him a pat on the back. "Hey, we'll fix this…" She said.

"I just miss him… He meant a lot to me…"

"I know, but he'll be alright, we're making progress…"

Bolt wiped away some small tears in his eyes, the two traveled back to their respective quarters, waiting to see what their new discovery would bring.

After a day or two, they had it, something had formed inside the capsule, and judging by how quickly it had grown, it had some form of cellular regeneration…

Everyone was excited, after all, some of their DNA had gone into completing it. So naturally when Rose decided to make the announcement that they were opening it everyone jumped at the opportunity to be there.

Rose was given the honor of activating the release, and as she did, and the machine opened, they were met with something they didn't expect…

A small black hedgehog stood in the center of it, he looked extremely confused as to where he was and who exactly were with him. Ruby decided to be the first to speak, "Hey bud, come here."

The hedgehog stepped toward them, they noticed small red highlights accented his quills. The ebony colored hedgehog was confused who were these people, and why was he here?

They ran several tests to check his health, but, after they had all come back with positive readings. Rose decided on a name, "Shadow, we'll call him Shadow."

"So, what exactly is he?" Ruby asked, as the black hedgehog was busy spending time with Blues, blissfully unaware of the circumstances of his creation.

"He's the creation of a DNA strand we found embedded in the Primal Crystal's data… Hopefully we'll be able to figure out more about what and who he is as we get to know him better." Bolt explained.

Ruby nodded, "I just hope you two know what you're doing…"

"We do, he seems fine!" Rose added.

The echidna walked out of the workshop, he wasn't sure about what to think about the two of them working together on projects more, but he figured that could be put aside, for now, he needed to figure out who Shadow was.

It didn't take long for him to find Blues and Shadow, the former was giving a tour of the temple, although he was probably too young to understand what was being told to him.

That was, until Ruby heard him speak. "So, what do you guys do again?" Shadow asked.

"We try and stop evil things from taking over the world, kind of protectors of sorts…"

Ruby cleared his throat, getting Blues' attention. The cobalt hedgehog walked over to him.

"How does he know how to talk, he's only like a few minutes old!"

"I'm not sure… He just started doing it…"

"I'll ask, Bolt, or maybe Rose, she's probably more familiar with this stuff."

Blues nodded and continued his explanations to Shadow, Ruby returned to the workshop, where he found Rose. "Why can Shadow talk?" He asked.

Rose looked surprised for a moment before responding, "Well, his DNA is sourced from the Primal Crystal, which we already know has some form of sentience, maybe he got the ability to speak from it?"

Ruby puzzled over the thought for a moment, until suddenly, the two were hit with an overwhelming wave of intrusive thoughts… The Crystal flared to life as instantly, the two heard another voice inside their head…

_"After all these years, you've done it… You created me a physical body, and for that, I am grateful… However, he must be kept from Lyric's grasp, lest his power be used for evil…"_

_"What power?"_ Rose asked.

_"You will learn in time, now, I will return to my slumber until my vessel is ready… You have done well, Guardians…"_

The pain ceased as the two returned to their senses, their bodies trembling with the newfound information, that was the first time they knew of that the Crystal had directly spoken to them, there were writings about it before but actually having it happen was a whole other story... Rose quickly began to jot down what had occurred, meanwhile, Ruby puzzled over what was said, Shadow was a physical vessel for the Crystal…

He wasn't sure what to think…

**Alright guys! That's all for today! A bit shorter but it needed to be to set up the next chapter! Let me know what you thought! Until next time!**


	6. Clearing

**Hello! It's about time I did a update for this story! I've got reviews so let's get those out of the way now!**

**Obliviblur: The Crystal's consciousness being transferred to Shadow does give him some unique circumstances! You'll have to read to see how it pans out however!**

**Let's get going!**

**Sonic Boom: The Ancients**

_**Clearing**_

Ruby wasn't sure what to make of Shadow, it was obvious that he was housing the Crystal's consciousness in some way, but whether that was a good or bad thing was up to debate. Especially considering he was made from a combination of all of their DNA, how Rose and Bolt had managed to figure that out still puzzled him.

However, he did acknowledge that there was at least one positive in the whole situation. And that was Shadow was more than likely going to be a great help against Lyric once he grew up. From the preliminary medical scans that Rose had done, she had concluded that Shadow actually grew and matured faster than any other Mobian they had ever seen. It fascinated her.

She continued to puzzle over the information she had gathered until Blues stepped into the workshop. "Hey Rose, you got anything new?"

"Not really, I mean… There's still tons to work with here though…"

"You'll get through it! I was just wondering if I could take Shadow out, show him around you know!"

"I guess that'd be fine, just make sure you keep an eye on him."

Blues nodded and beckoned to the ebony hedgehog, whom followed him out of the room. The speedster lead him around the temple grounds, showing off many of it's small nuances. Until eventually, Shadow asked a certain question.

"So where did all of you come from?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, who were you guys before you started all this? What did you do?"

Blues thought over the question for a bit, "Well, I suppose you deserve an explanation." They both sat down on a small outcropping of the temple that overlooked the entrance.

"Ruby's been doing this thing the longest, the Primal Crystal is apparently something he's been tasked with guarding since birth. We think his parents might have been some of the past Ancients but we're not sure… His family kind of disappeared one day, and they never came back. He eventually met Rose and her family and was just kind of taken in by them. They became sort of siblings I guess…"

"What's her family like?"

"Rose's dad is actually mayor of a small village around here, so she goes to visit him quite a bit. Her mom lives with him. They're not exactly thrilled with their daughter putting her life in danger as much as she does, but they understand why she does it. As I already mentioned, she and Ruby lived together for a while before we started doing this whole thing."

"Speaking of which, how did you all get chosen? How did you know?"

"We didn't, not for a while at least. The Crystal chose us, eventually, each in our own ways we discovered this place. What makes it even more odd, is that it somehow feels familiar, even if it's the first time we've seen it." Blues explained.

"I guess that makes sense, so what about Bolt?"

The azure hedgehog sighed, "Bolt doesn't like to talk about his past, it triggers some horrific memories in him about something… So we don't really know, what I do know is that I found in in the forest, crying for help with a massive bloody gash on his side. He doesn't ever talk about what happened or how he got there, I discovered he had a knack for inventing and machines. I felt bad for him because he reminded me of myself, so I took him in."

"So where does that put you?"

"I didn't know my family, I lived on my own, stealing and doing whatever I had to live. I'm not proud of some of the things I did. But I didn't have a choice… My speed helped, it's a talent I've always had. But once I met Bolt, I tried to clean up a bit."

"You were a thief?" Shadow asked.

"Mainly, I did really whatever I had to. I wasn't just going to let myself and Bolt starve. I did get into my fair share of trouble but I've cleaned it up now."

Silence followed for a minute until Shadow asked the one question Blues had been dreading, "What about Lyric?"

Blues wasn't sure how to answer, but eventually decided that the truth would have to come out eventually. "Lyric was, abused, when he was younger. He became an Ancient after most of us, but he harbored a hatred and contempt for all Mobian life that had mistreated him. When he got his hands on the Primal Crystal, it… Fascinated him… Eventually changing his demeanor almost entirely, he became aggressive to everyone. By the time we realized what was happening, it was already too late…"

"Crystal Sickness?"

"Yeah…"

"What is it exactly?"

"The Crystal corrupted Lyric's mind and mutated his body, his contempt toward those that had hurt him turned into a burning hatred against all Mobian life. We tried to stop him, but one on one we stood no chance of overpowering the Crystal's energy. Even with all of us we weren't able to beat him, just contain him. He'll break free one day, and we'll need to be ready when he does…"

"So that's why you made me?"

"We think the Crystal gave you to us because you're the closest to Lyric's corrupted cells. You're made from the Primal Crystal itself. Hopefully we'll be able to use your make up and what we already know to finally cure Lyric and put an end to all this."

Shadow nodded, "So, are we even close?"

"We're not sure, we think we have something that could potentially work, but none of us are for certain, and the only way to test it would be to use it…"

"But you're not sure if it'll work."

"Exactly, we've held off for now, until one of us can perfect the formula, we're working all the time on it."

"Is there anyway I could help? Shadow asked.

"You've done enough by just existing, but if you really want to, I'm sure we could find you something!"

Shadow nodded and the two returned to the main level. Now with some confusion removed and cleared, they could continued their work, and one could only hope it would be enough…

**Alright everyone, short chapter today for this fic, but I promise the next one will be normal length, just trying to get back into updating this story for the time being! I hope you all enjoyed!**


	7. Update

Hello everyone, I'm just going to get to the point here; I'm not really enjoying writing this fic any more at the moment I've always told myself that I'll write what I enjoy and so as of now, this story is on an indefinite hiatus.

I'm sorry to all of you that enjoyed this story and if you'd like to let me know how you feel about this feel free to PM me, please don't leave a review on this chapter.


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